this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023

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Showerthoughts

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114

English is weird (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

51 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I got hung up on contractions this morning regarding the word "you've". Normally, I'd say "you've got a problem", which expands to "you have got a problem", which isn't wrong, but I normally wouldn't say. Not contracting, I'd say "you have a problem", so then should I just say "you've a problem"? That sounds weird in my head. Is this just a US English problem?

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[–] [email protected] 100 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

In the sentence "you have a problem", "have" is the main verb. When reduced to the clitic "'ve", it becomes a weak form and is only expected to be used as an auxiliary verb. These types of verbs must be followed by the main verb. "a" is not a verb. Thus, we insert "got".

If we do not insert "got", the stress in the sentence moves and it sounds overly affected.

I'm not too sure, but I think "be" ("is", "are") is the only verb that can be contracted and still remain a main verb. I'm not too sure why.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

🏆 Award for well thought out and educational answer!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

I can't find the clitic.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

To add to this, "have got" is perfect tense. "You're a man" is different because "are" isn't an auxiliary verb here, it is just added to "you" as a contraction. That phrase would probably be an existential clause.

I miss World Wide Words!

[–] [email protected] 39 points 2 years ago (1 children)

English is weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

My god it’s a tongue twister for my internal monologue.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago

You've mail!

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've a solution!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What's it?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

It seems that i'm. The solution's me.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago (1 children)

"You've a problem" actually still works, but it's an older way of saying it

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Yeah, I've definitely heard Brits say similar phrases

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Yes, English is weird.

'Bough' and 'cough' are not pronounced the same. 'Bough' and 'bow' are pronounced the same. 'Knee' and 'Leigh' are pronounced the same. 'Neigh' and 'nay' are pronounced the same. 'Polish' (the nationality) and 'polish' (as in what you do to a metal object) are not pronounced the same. 'Tear' (as in to rip) and 'tear' (as in to cry) are spelled the same, but not pronounced the same. Other words which are spelled the same, but pronounced differently:

resume / resume present / present record / record close / close use / use live / live

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 years ago (1 children)

‘Bough’ and ‘bow’ are pronounced the same

Except, of course, when "bow" is pronounced "bow" instead.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I shot the boughs with my bow and then gave a bow to my beau!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

The last one should be spelled beau if you mean your special guy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Leigh put the Polish bough over his knee but couldn’t polish it. “What’s the use!” he coughed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

'Knee' and 'Leigh' are pronounced the same.

Well they rhyme, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they're pronounced the same

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Leigh can be pronounced like 'Lee' or 'Lay'

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

No I know that, but knee isn't pronounced like Lee :P

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

What does leigh pronounced lay mean...?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (7 children)

I've got all but the use/use one. What's the other usecase if one is "to consume"?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It has utility = it has use

To consume = to use

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

You can have a use for something, and you can also use something (first one is pronounced the same as the end of 'papoose', second one is pronounced the same as 'ooze')

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

The noun 'use', as in 'this has a specific use'

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Thanks @[email protected] and @[email protected]!

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You've a problem is proper English as well, albeit more often used in the UK than in NA, feel free to use it!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

'uve problm bruv?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Tom Scott has a great video on contractions.

https://youtu.be/CkZyZFa5qO0

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/CkZyZFa5qO0

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

Yeah but that’s not English only. Try saying “de el” in Spanish and it sounds super wrong, for similar reasons. Sometimes contractions kill what they replace

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Tom Scott recently did a video about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkZyZFa5qO0

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://www.piped.video/watch?v=CkZyZFa5qO0

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It depends on your emphasis. "You HAVE got a problem there," doesn't sound weird when you emphasize the have. You've a problem doesn't sound weird, just a bit British.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

No, this is a problem with the language in general.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

"you have got a problem", which isn't wrong

Can someone explain to me, why isn't it "you have gotten a problem"?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

It also has secret rules look up adjectives ordering and vowel ordering.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I actually think that 'you have a problem's and 'you have got/you've got a problem' are subtely different in meaning. If someone has something, they may have had it all along. It sort of has an ongoing ontological quality. If someone has got something, it implies that they got it at some point in time. I think.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

You’ve got mail!

Goodbye!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

People do say that though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Y'all crack me up with many of these comments!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

English has quite many problems in a lot of components. It is not phonemic and is very complex. That is one of the main reasons I got interested in learning Esperanto. It is simple, phonemic and planned to be good.

Bonan tagon al ĉiuj esperantistoj ĉi tie.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Saluton, mia amiko 👋

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It says a lot that I don't know a lick of Esperanto yet even without the emote I'd have known for sure what you were saying. Working as intended!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Jes!

(That's Esperanto for "yes". It's pronounced "yes" 😄)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Saluton!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Saluton, kiel vi?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Contractions are very regional and a product of spoken English which varies quite a lot from place to place. For example, I use contractions that I don’t see people around me using like: y’all (plural 2nd person pronoun that’s missing in official English speech; verbs are conjugated the same as 2nd person singular forms), shouldn’t’ve, gonna (going to/ going to want to), wanna (want to), that’re, then’ll, then’re etc.

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